1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic electronic component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, ceramic electronic components such as ceramic capacitors have been used for electronic devices such as cellular phones and portable music players. For example, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-100834, a ceramic electronic component generally includes a ceramic body having a surface at which an end portion of each of inner electrodes is exposed and outer electrodes disposed so as to cover a portion of the ceramic body in which the inner electrode is exposed.
However, in ceramic electronic components in which side surface electrodes of terminal electrodes are formed so as to extend to near a central portion of a capacitor body and have a large length as illustrated in FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-100834, for example, when the terminal electrodes are formed by a dipping method in which the capacitor body is dipped into a conductive paste containing conductive metal powder, glass frit, and the like and then the capacitor body is lifted up out of the conductive paste, the surface tension at each of the side surface electrodes of the terminal electrodes increases as the length of each of the side surface electrodes of the terminal electrodes increases. Therefore, a conductive paste is easily held on side surfaces (side-surface-electrode-forming portions) of the capacitor body. This decreases the amount of conductive paste in ridge portions of the capacitor body. As a result, the conductive paste cannot be sufficiently applied to the ridge portions of the capacitor body and, in some cases, the terminal electrodes are not appropriately formed in the ridge portions of the capacitor body. This poses a problem in that moisture and the like enter the capacitor body through a portion in which the terminal electrodes are not formed, which degrades the moisture resistance.
In recent years, there has been a demand for decreasing the size and thickness of electronic components. Such a decrease in the size and thickness requires a decrease in the thickness of terminal electrodes formed on principal surfaces of a capacitor body. To decrease the thickness of such terminal electrodes, it is desirable to decrease the viscosity of a conductive paste. However, a decrease in the viscosity of the conductive paste significantly poses the above problem.